


More than a business meeting

by S_Horne



Series: ShHiatusBang Flash Bang Bingo Team Blue [21]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Human, First Meeting, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Max Lightwood is Alec's son, meet cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 09:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14493594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: “I’m Max Lightwood,” the little boy said as he stuck out his hand. “Are you here to see my Daddy?”Magnus took the offered hand and gave it a little shake, smiling at the boy’s pleased grin at being treated like an adult. “I’m Magnus Bane,” he replied, “and I suppose that depends on who your daddy is, doesn’t it?”“Alec Lightwood,” Max replied before he dropped his voice a little and carried on as though he were sharing a secret, “he’s the big bossman.”“In which case,” Magnus told him and lowered his voice to do the same, “yes, I am.”“Cool!” Max beamed, “his office is down here!”/Bingo Square:Meet Cute





	1. Chapter 1

“Ouch!”

Magnus startled when he heard a loud cry and felt something bunce off his legs accompanied by the soft bump of something hitting the floor. He looked down and jumped into action when he registered that the thing on the floor and that which had hit him was in fact a child, a small boy of not more than 6 sitting awkwardly on the carpet of the hallway. Magnus dropped to his knees quickly and ducked his head to try and catch the little boy’s gaze.

“Are you okay?” He asked softly when he saw that the child had his eyes squeezed shut and his hands placed underneath his body. Magnus looked up and down the corridor, but there was no one else around to help. He turned back to the boy when he spoke with a scowl.

“I think I broke my bottom!” Magnus couldn’t help but laugh and the boy opened his eyes to look up at Magnus in betrayal. “It’s not funny!” He said and his bottom lip jutted out in the beginnings of a pout. Magnus bit down on his smile and schooled his expression into one of sympathy.

“Of course it’s not,” he said and reached out a hand to stroke over the boy’s unruly hair, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to laugh at you.”

“Good,” the boy said authoritatively after appraising Magnus for a moment. He pushed himself up to stand where his body was barely as tall as Magnus’s height, even with the older man knelt down. “I’m Max Lightwood,” he said and stuck out his hand. “Are you here to see my Daddy?”

Magnus took the offered hand and gave it a little shake, smiling at the boy’s pleased grin at being treated like an adult. “I’m Magnus Bane,” he replied, “and I suppose that depends on who your daddy is, doesn’t it?”

“Alec Lightwood,” Max replied before he dropped his voice a little and carried on as though he were sharing a secret, “he’s the big bossman.”

“In which case,” Magnus told him and lowered his voice to do the same, “yes, I am.”

“Cool!” Max beamed, “his office is down here!”

/

“Max!”

And this must be Alexander Lightwood. Magnus had been pulled into Alec’s office by Max, the boy walking straight into his father’s room with no knocking or waiting. When the other man had turned around at the sound of the door opening, Magnus had been shocked into silence. He had been preparing for this meeting for months now and he had thought he had gone through every possible outcome, but he hadn’t prepared himself for this. Alec Lightwood was absolutely _gorgeous._

“What have I told you about talking to strangers?” Alec continued to his son in exasperation as he stood from his desk and walked over to the two newcomers, eyes fixed on Max for the time being.

“But he’s not a stranger,” Max argued and gestured up at Magnus, “he’s Magnus Bane! He’s your next appointment – I met him in the corridor!”

Alec rolled his eyes at the boy and turned to Magnus with a shake of his head. “Five years old and he’s already a better secretary than the one I pay.” Magnus laughed and stepped forward when Alec stretched out a hand towards him.

“Alec Lightwood,” Alec said when Magnus took his offered hand in a firm shake. “Apologies for my son; he was here on the condition that he kept out of the way.” He directed that last part of his speech towards his son, who only gave an innocent smile back, bright eyes and chubby cheeks in full use for an angelic expression.

Alec laughed and reached out a hand to ruffle his son’s hair. “Get out of here,” he muttered before he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and bent to press a kiss to the child’s head. Max squirmed for a moment and tried to push his father away from him as he let out childish giggles. When Alec finally let him go, he ran for the door and freedom. After a second, his head propped back around the doorframe and he shot a toothy smile toward Magnus with a wave over his shoulder.

“Bye, Magnus,” he called, “good luck!”

“I’m sorry about him,” Alec said when it was just the two of them left in the room, Max finally gone to terrorize the rest of the building. Alec gestured for Magnus to take the seat in front of the desk as he walked back to his seat behind it.

“Don’t be,” Magnus replied as he sat, “he’s a sweet child. And it’s sort of my fault anyway.” Alec lifted an eyebrow and Magnus continued a little sheepishly. “I must confess that I became something of an obstacle for Max’s adventure in the hallway.”

Alec lifted a hand and scrubbed it down his face even as he laughed fondly. “Don’t worry about it,” he assured Magnus, “That kid is practically made of rubber; always has been. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had an almost heart-attack at one of his falls for him to just bounce straight back up with a smile on his face.” Magnus smiled widely as Alec continued reminiscing, his voice sweet and full of warmth. “And I can’t count how many times I’ve tried to get him to slow down either, but he just has so much energy that there’s no stopping him.”

“The wonder of children,” Magnus said with a knowing nod, “Max just so happens to be one of the more energetic ones.”

“You’re telling me,” Alec agreed. “And I wouldn’t change him for the world, of course. It’s just sometimes a little much when there’s just me to watch him. I often wish he would be content with sitting down to colour instead of turning every room into his person jungle-gym.”

Magnus laughed before Alec clapped his hands together and leant forward, a more professional smile slotting onto his face as he dropped his gaze to the paperwork in front of him. “Anyway, Mr. Bane; on to business. What can I do for you today?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. This didn't come out how I wanted it to at all, but I hope my readers still enjoy! Please tell me if you don't and I might give it another shot

 

“Magnus! Magnus!”

Magnus looked up from his papers on the counter when he heard the chime of the bell over the door accompanied by his name being called and turned around at the childish voice. He grinned when he saw Max Lightwood barrelling towards him.

“Hi, Max!” he said as the child drew near to him, “what are you doing here?”

“We came for story-time!” the boy cried excitedly and looked up at Magnus, his head tipped back as far as it would go and his smile reaching from ear to ear.

“Awesome!” Magnus held up his hand and grinned when Max smacked his palm against it enthusiastically. “It’s gonna be a good one today. Do you want to go and sit down in a circle with the others?” He dropped his voice and gave Max a wink, “If you get there quickly, you can bag one of the best seats.”

“Cool!” Max ran over to the other children already sitting in a large circle in the reading area and Magnus watched with a smile as the boy flopped down onto one of the colourful bean bags, already babbling away to another child sitting in the one next to his. Magnus had spent a long time choosing the brightly-coloured bean bags, cushions and throws for meetings just like this one and he couldn’t stop the warmth in his chest at seeing it finally happening, the kids’ beaming faces showing how much they appreciated it too.

“Well, that looks like fun.” Magnus jumped at the voice from behind him and turned with his hand on his heart to see Alec Lightwood standing there grinning down at him. “Hi,” he continued when he saw that he had Magnus’s attention.

Magnus kept his hand on his heart as though that would stop it from beating so quickly; he knew that its crazy rhythm had nothing to do with shock anymore, just sheer attraction. He told himself off quickly and sternly in his head before he opened his mouth to reply to the man in front of him.

“Mr. Lightwood,” he said in surprise, “What brings you here?”

“Alec, please,” Alec corrected Magnus, “and I’m here to see how you’re getting on. We always do an in-person check-in at six months and when Max heard that it was going to involve a story-telling and a possible hot chocolate and a slice of cake, he begged and begged until I offered to do it.”

Magnus laughed and once more told his treacherous heart to calm down at the indulgent smile on Alec’s face. “Well,” Magnus began, “I hope you like everything that you see.”

“Oh, believe me,” Alec replied, “I do.” Magnus let out a spluttered cough in surprise and Alec began to stutter, his cheeks flushing a bright red as he stumbled. “I didn’t – no, I meant that the place looks good; I didn’t mean to – oh, hell.”

Magnus laughed loudly and reached out a hand to squeeze Alec’s arm. Alec relaxed a little, though his cheeks were still a deep red. “It really does look good, Magnus,” he said and Magnus beamed as he looked around the room.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, “I honestly could not have done it without you.”

“Well, I know a good idea when I hear one. And this,” Alec said with a nod around the room, “was a good idea.”

Magnus couldn’t help the pride that practically radiated from him at those words. He had tried for so long to establish his business, but he hadn’t been able to get it to take off no matter how hard he tried. Eventually he had approached Lightwood & Sons, a private equity firm, where he had pitched his idea to Alexander Lightwood. Magnus had been desperate for a small café and bakery which would run daily groups and activities as outreach for all ages in the community. With the right funding and marketing, _Whole Latte Love_ was up and running in only a matter of months. They ran sewing and knitting clubs with homemade cakes, study groups with discounted coffees for the students from the nearby college, parent and toddler groups all through the week and, Magnus’s personal favourite, the reading club on a Saturday morning for children of all ages to come and have a story read to them before doing some educational activities and crafts based on the book of the week. It was his pride and joy and to hear that someone else also thought it was a success brought tears to his eyes.

Magnus opened his mouth to say something else to Alec when a loud call was heard from the group of waiting children behind him. He let out a little laugh and gave Alec an apologetic grimace. “Unfortunately, that’s my cue to go. Storytime waits for no man.”

Alec stepped back and held up his hands, “Don’t let me stand in your way,” he said, “I can see that that is a very important job.”

Magnus smiled again and turned to the children before a thought hit him and he twisted to look back over his shoulder. “Are you sticking around?” He asked a little hesitantly.

“Oh yeah,” Alec said, “I have to wait for his Lordship anyway, but I have my eye on that armchair by the window and one of those brownies in the display case.”

“Freshly baked this morning by yours truly,” Magnus told him with a wink.

“Well in that case, I definitely have to try one!”

Magnus laughed again; what was it about this man and the lightness that he brought with him? Magnus hadn’t laughed so easily in a long time as the stress of his business had been burning him almost to the ground. He had barely even known this man 6 months and their interactions had scarcely been more than professional, but for some reason Magnus always felt better after having seen him. As Magnus turned to go once again, Alec’s voice stopped him.

“I, um. Well, I – Max and I were going to go out for dinner tonight. There’s a new place that my sister found that we were going to try. I was wondering if; well, um, if you would like to come with us?”

Magnus stared at the stuttering man for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Just you and Max?” He asked cautiously and relaxed when Alec nodded.

“It’s just Max and I,” Alec clarified, a weight to his voice answering a question that Magnus hadn’t been brave enough to ask but had desperately wanted to know, “and you, if you’d like.”

Magnus was about to say more when the children called for him again. He had known that putting Raphael in charge of the little ones was a bad idea when he had done it; he really was a stickler for timing, and a dreadful cockblock at that. “That sounds lovely, Alexander. But I really must go; one must never come between a child and their story-time.”

Alec smiled and gave a small bow. “Oh, no, never. I get that, believe me. Go,” he said, “I’ll be here when you’re done.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah," Alec confirmed. "After all, there are a _lot_ of cakes for me to try in that display case. I have a feeling I’ll have to stick around for quite some time.”


End file.
